G&W reports net income surge

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. saw its net income nearly quadruple in the first quarter.

The railroad operator reported a net income of $82.7 million for the first quarter, or $1.46 a share, compared with $22.2 million, or 52 cents, during the same period a year ago. The company attributed the large increase in part to an income tax benefit of $24.9 million.

Results for the first quarter 2013 included operating expenses from the integration of RailAmerica Inc., which GWI acquired last October.

GWI logged revenues of $375.2 million for the first quarter, up more than 80 percent from $207.4 million a year ago. Revenue totals included $154.4 million in revenues from new operations. Operating expense for the first quarter rose to $299 million from $166.2 million last year.

The company’s traffic increased more 4.5 percent to 450,304 carloads.

“We moved quickly to integrate the new operations and are pleased to report financial results in-line with our acquisition plan,” said Jack Hellman, president and CEO of GWI, in a statement. “Normalizing for several items such as the benefit of the U.S. short line tax credit, RailAmerica integration costs, as well as the impact of last year’s Edith River Bridge washout in Australia, G&W’s adjusted earnings per share increased nearly 40 percent in the first quarter of 2013.”

GWI shares (NYSE: GWR) were trading at $82.26 midday Wednesday, down more than 3 percent from Tuesday’s close of $85.20.